Basic

I was reading a book by Dr Innes In the plant section he recommends things like, rabbit or Guinea Pig lozenges as they are the perfect size for inserting by the plant in the substrate. He also suggested using lime water to dissenfect your plants before putting them in the tank. Something I found interesting was his picture and use of a glass net. Which I think I will try for catching nano fish in planted tanks. He also mentions the danger of lesser bladderwort in catching small fry. He gives instruction on how to pulverize sheep manure into a liquid and inject it into your ls
Soil(sand substrate) He says using growing trays with your substrate in them, makes it easier when it comes time to remove fish from your tank. Because you don't leave a place for fish to hide. I love reading these older books. You discover things that have lost favor but may be worth bringing backwebsite

T Money $$

I'm with you on this one, my dad recently moved and gave me all his old books on everything from disease to live food culturing. It is really neat to read about what was in practice back then and you can find little things that will work now.

Big_Fish

Dr Innes was instrumental in me getting into aquariums some 40 years ago...
I used to fall asleep at night reading his books.

Michael

I first read Innes in the mid-60s when I about 12--I think I wore out the library's copy! I would really like to read the book now.

Cavan Allen

My aunt told me that they used to use a light bulb inside a jar as a heater. Not sure I'd want to try that!

ukamikazu

Can 1875 join in on this thread too ? Behold, the necessary forerunner for good Dr. Walstad and a beautifully proseful explanation for perhaps becoming antiquarian. This is a free Google ebook so please consume the entire thing but do please love and cherish Chapter 3, page 22, I beg you . God I love the prose of that era! Quoted text bolded for ease of reading.

http://books.google.com.nf/ebooks/re...er&pg=GBS.PA22

From James Shirley Hibberd's The Aquarium:

“The mere assignment of a few fishes, sea anemones, plants, or other gatherings of aquatic life to a vessel of water, does not constitute an Aquarium. The term implies a self-sustaining collection, so adapted that the balance of forces which is maintained in the scheme of nature shall have its counterpart on a smaller scale. There can be no success, no pleasure, and but little instruction in the keeping together of heterogeneous assemblage by merely artificial means.”

These words are starting to sound familiar I hope. Start thinking about how we as planted aquarium keepers use the term balance and what we mean. Continuing on with the excerpt an interesting, almost crude and very wrong sentiment appears. Something that flies in the face of modern aquarium management today.

“But it is an essential principle of the Aquarium, scientifically considered, that the water shall never be changed, and that no artificial means whatever shall be used to keep up the supply of life giving oxygen for the support of its animated inmates.”

What is the meaning of this? Some bizarre Victorian pronouncement born arbitrarily? No, it is a rhetorical device I assure you. I'll let Mr. Hibberd disabuse you.

“By 'never changed' I mean the the balance shall be so perfectly established between the reciprocating actions of animal and vegetable life, that the changing of the water becomes a matter of convenience, and not of necessity; it may be changed perhaps once a year, for the purpose of re-arranging the furniture, or laying down a bed of fresh pebbles, but not at all for the purpose of promoting the health of the creatures.”

Given the last few sentiments, you must be aware that at the time the Victorians didn't know about osmotic balance of the cells of aquatic organisms, the importance of calcium, potassium and sodium. No, this was the presentation of an ideal if a balance was properly struck. We know now for certain that water must be changed for precisely these reasons and to dilute the organic wastes.

One could argue that Dr. Walstad supported this notion with her natural planted aquariums and in her book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium but when we dig a bit deeper, that's not the case at all and maybe Mr. Hibberd can be forgiven of this notion.

ObiQuiet

What a great find! Thank you!